Auxiliary control of a gun firing mechanism



Feb. 28, 1967 R. RAMSEYER AUXILIARY CONTROL OF A GUN FIRING MECHANISM Filed March 8, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 g m .NN mw wwv 22 If! ////A R. RAM'SEYER AUXILIARY CONTROL OF A GUN FIRING MECHANISM Filed March 8, 1965 Feb. 28, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 E ////V/ 49/z/ 4 J w Mia w ll .0

Feb. 28, 1967 R. RAMSEYER AUXILIARY CONTROL OF A GUN FIRING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 8, 1965 Feb. 28, 1967 R. RAMSEYER AUXILIARY CONTROL OF A GUN FIRING MECHANISM Filed March 8, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent Claims. 2c]. 89-132) The present invention relates to guns provided with an auxiliary control for their firing mechanisms, that is to say guns wherein the gunner uses an independent source of energy to perform the operation which starts firing. The invention is more especially concerned with automatic guns and still more particularly, with automatic guns of the open breech type, such automatic guns comprising a breechblock which, before firing is started, is held in open position against the action of a return spring by a trigger device which is to be released so that the breech comes into cartridge chamber closing position after the introduction of a cartridge into the gun cartridge chamber, firing of the cartridge being effected after the breech closing displacement of the breechblock has taken place.

The chief object of the present invention is to facilitate the operation of the firing mechanism of such a gun.

A gun of the type with which the present invention is concerned comprises a movable part other than the breechblock, such as the breech casing, which recoils, every time a cartridge is fired, with respect to a stationary support, the auxiliary control mechanism of this gun comprising an energy accumulator, preferably of the spring type, carried by said stationary support and capable of periodically receiving and storing, on every shot being fired, energy delivered by said movable part as the result of the firing of a shot.

According to the present invention said mechanism includes means capable, when energy has been stored in said energy accumulator, of locking it by mean of a device acting upon the movable element of said energy accumulator through the intermediate of a reversible abutment kept in active position by a locking device retractable under the action of a fire starting control device operated by the gunner.

Other features of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof.

A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter described with reference to the appended drawings, given merely by way of example, and in which:

FIGS. 1 to 5 diagrammatically show, in longitudinal section (FIGS. 1 and 2 being on a larger scale), the rear portion of an automatic gun provided with an auxiliary control according to the invention.

In FIG. 1, the auxiliary control is shown in the released position;

In FIG. 2, said auxiliary control is shown locked;

In FIG. 3, the auxiliary control is shown after the firing of a first shot;

In FIG. 4, the auxiliary control is shown when used for firing a burst of shots;

In FIG. 5, the auxiliary control is shown-when firing shot by shot;

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic longitudinal sectional view of a device for resetting the gun trigger mechanism.

The gun shown by the drawings is mounted on a stationary support diagrammatically shown at 1 and which may be a cradle, a gun mount or the like, with the interposition of a shock absorbing device 2.

The gun includes a breech casing 3 in which is slidable a breechblock 4. Said breechblock is provided, at the 3,306,167 Patented Feb. 28, 1967 rear of its under face, with a holding notch 40 into which can engage, when the gun is in the open breech position, the nose 5a of a scar 5 pivotally mounted about a pivot axis 6 carried by breech casing 3. Sear 5 is subjected to the action of a return spring 7 urging it toward the position where the nose 5a of sear 5 is engaged into the notch 4a of breechblock 4. Breechblock 4 is urged toward the front (i.e. toward the left in the drawings) by a spring 8.

Sear 5 is actuated by a fire control. mechanism intended to be operated through the auxiliary mechanism.

The fire control mechanism comprises the following elements:

(a) on the one hand, a first group of parts carried by breech casing 3 and including a bent lever 9 pivoted at 10 to breech casing 3, said lever 9 carrying at one of its ends a finger 11 bearing against a lateral guiding surface 5b carried by sear 5 and at its other end a roller 12; said lever 9 is subjected to the action of a return spring 13 which urges it in the counterclockwise direction so as to tend to release sear 5, which then moves upwardly toward the position shown by FIG. 1 under the action of its return spring 7; and

(b) on the other hand, a second group of parts housed in a casing 14 fixed with respect to stationary support 1 and located under lever 9, this second group of parts comprising a bell crank lever 15 pivoted at 16 on casing 14, and the upper arm of which, extending rearwardly, comprises, along its upper edge, two rectilinear guide faces 15a and 1512 making with each other an angle substantially equal to the supplement of the angle through which bell crank lever 15 is to pivot. Said guide faces 15a and 15b are intended to cooperate with the roller 12 of bent lever 9, the first guide face 15a acting when the mechanism is in fire stopping position (the nose 5a of scar 5 being engaged, or nearly engaged, into the notch 4a of breechblock 4, as shown in FIG. 2) and the second guide face 15b acting when the mechanism is in firing position (the nose 5a of sear 5 being outside of the trajectory of the not-ch 4a of breechblock 4, as shown by FIG. 3).

With such a mechanism, breechblock 4 being in its rear position with its notch 4a engaged on the nose 5a of sear 5, when bell crank lever 15 is pivoted about its axis 16 in the counterclockwise direction, guide faces 15a15b lift roller 12 to produce a clockwise pivoting of lever 9 and thus to disengage nose So from notch 4a, whereby breechblock 4 is released and firing is started. Guide face 15a is then parallel to the path of recoil of the gun (position shown by FIG. 3).

The auxiliary control mechanism which will now be more explicitly described is intended to produce such a pivoting of bell crank lever 15.

This mechanism comprises the following elements:

(1) an energy accumulator, consisting, in the embodiment illustrated by the drawings, of a spring 18 housed in casing 14, and

(2) means for transmitting to this spring 18, in order to operate the fire control mechanism, energy supplied by the recoil of breech casing 3.

It should be noted that the recoil movement of breech casing 3, which has a relatively important mass, is relatively slow, which permits of avoiding the transmisson to energy accumulator spring 18 of sudden and violent stresses which would risk deteriorating it.

The energy accumulator comprises a slide 17 guided on the floor of casing 14 and subjected to the action of spring 18 which tends to move said slide 17 toward a lever 19 pivoted at 20 to the downward arm of bell crank lever 15.

The means for causing the recoil of breech casing 3 to transmit energy to accumulator spring 18 comprise an arming lever 21 pivoted at 23 to casing 14, one arm 22 of said lever 21 being pivotally connected to slide 17 whereas the other arm 21 carries a roller 24 adapted to cooperate, when the gun recoils, with an oblique surface 25 rigid with breech casing 3. This oblique surface 25 is arranged in such manner that, when it acts through roller 24 upon arming lever 21, it compels said lever 21 to pivot in the clockwise direction, thus compressing accumulator spring 18.

It suffices, to complete the servo mechanism, to provide, along the path of travel of slide 17, a retractable abutment capable of temporarily locking it in its position corresponding to a maxim-um compression of accumulator spring 18.

In usual mechanisms for this purpose, the gunner is generally compelled to exert upon the trigger member a relatively important effort which requires the action of either his hand or his foot.

But when the general arrangement of the gun and of its support is such that the gunner needs both of his hands to perform other necessary operations, for instance to aim the gun, and furthermore when he cannot act through a pedal, for instance because he is lying horizontally, it becomes necessary to provide a fire control mechanism capable of being operated by means of a single finger.

But in this case it is of course impossible to ask the gunner to exert an important effort with a single finger.

In particular, in the case, above considered, where the energy for actuating the fire control mechanism is supplied by accumulator spring 18, retraction of the abutment which holds this spring must be possible through the action of a single finger acting upon the trigger.

For this purpose, according to the invention, use is made, for temporarily holding slide 17 in the position for which accumulator spring 18 is compressed, of a locking member 26 pivoting about an axis 27 fixed with respect to casing 14 and subjected to the action of a return spring 28 urging it toward its engagement position. Said locking member 26, which will be hereinafter called fire control locking member, and slide 17 cooperate together through two oblique surfaces 26a and 17a carried respectively by said locking member 26 and said slide 17.

Fire control locking member 26 is itself locked in actlve position by a disengagement locking member 29 pivoted to casing 14 at 30 and subjected to the action of a spring 31 urging it toward its active locking position.

Said disengagement locking member 29 can be moved away from said active locking position by a disengagement pawl 32 pivoted at 33 to one of the arms of a bell crank lever 34, pawl 32 and disengagement locking member 29 being, for this purpose, provided with projections, respectively 32a and 29a, adapted to cooperate together.

The other arm of said bell crank lever 34 is pivoted at its end to a system of two links 35a connected to a trigger 35 pivoted about an axis 36 carried by a handle 37 serving to control the operation of the gun.

It should be noted that, between the upper arm of bell crank lever 34 and the top of disengagement pawl 32, there is provided a compression spring 38 urging the v lower arm of said pawl 32 against disengagement locking member 29 so that, when bell crank lever 34 is pivoted in the clockwise direction, the projection 32a of pawl 32 pushes the projection 29a of locking member 29 to cause it to pivot in the clockwise direction about its axis.

On the other hand, to retain bell crank lever in the position corresponding to burst firing once trigger 35 has been pulled by the gunner, releasable holding means are provided which include a hook 39 pivoted at 40 to casing 14 and subjected to the action of a return spring 41 bearing against casing 41 so as to urge said hook 39 toward an active position in which the projection 39a of said hook 39 cooperates in a reversible fashion with a holding lug 19a provided at the rear of lever 19 (burst firing position shown by FIG. 4).

In order to keep projection 39a and holding lug 19a in engagement with each other despite their reversibility and to make sure that lever 19 occupies the angular posi tion corresponding to cooperation between said elements 39a and 19a, there is provided a lever 42 pivoted at 43 to casing 14 and adapted to cooperate in a reversible manner with a guide surface 1912 at the front part of lever 19. This lever 42 is arranged in such manner that, when the gunner depresses trigger 35, lever 42 compels lever 19 to come opposite the end of slide 17 Once lever 19 has been brought into this position by the action of lever 42 upon guide surface 19b, it is kept in this position by lever 42 bearing against a guide surface adjacent to guide surface 19b and which is then horizontal (position shown by FIG. 3).

The operation of the device will now be described.

It is supposed that, initially, as shown by FIG. 1, accumulator spring 18 is not compressed, and trigger 35 is released by the gunner, a shot being in the course of being fired.

After this shot has been fired, breechblock 4 recoils. Its inclined surface 25 swings arming lever 21 in the clockwise direction. The lower arm of said arming lever 21 moves slide 17 toward the left, compressing accumulator spring 18.

When the oblique edge 17a of the bottom of slide 17 slips past the end of fire control locking member 26, said member pivots downwardly under the action of spring 28, and its edge 26a engages said edge 17a of slide 17. Simultaneously, disengagement locking member 29, pushed by spring 31, pivots slightly toward the right so that its notched end engages the edge of locking member 26 and holds said member 26 in the position where it locks slide 17. v

The parts are now in the position illustrated by FIG. 2. Accumulator spring 18 is held in compressed position by locking member 29. Breechblock 4 is held in its rear position by the engagement into its notch 4a of the nose 5a of sear 5 carried by breech casing 3.

When, now, the gunner depresses trigger 35, links 35a, pulled toward the right by said trigger, cause bell crank lever 34 to pivot in the clockwise direction so that the horizontal arm of said lever 34 imparts a downward displacement to disengagement pawl 32 the top end of which is further pushed toward the right by spring 38. The projection 32a of said pawl 32 pushes down the projection 29a of disengagement locking member 29, thus causing said member 29 to pivot toward the left so that it is disengaged from the fire control locking member 26.

Disengagement pawl 32, after pushing locking member 29 toward the left, keeps moving down, releasing said locking member 29 which, under the action of its spring 31, swings back toward the right.

Fire control locking member 26, as soon as released from disengagement locking member 29, is pivoted upwardly by the thrust exerted on its oblique end face 26a by the oblique end face 17a of slide 17 pushed toward the right by accumulator spring 18. Slide 17, thus released, pushes toward the right lever 19, which has been pivoted in the counterclockwise direction by the action, on its guide surfaces 19a and 19c, of the lower end of lever 42 pivoted in the clockwise direction, by links 35a, from the position of FIG. 2 to that of FIG. 3.

The thrust of slide 17 toward the right is transmitted through lever 19 to bell crank lever 15, which is pivoted about axis 16 in the counterclockwise direction, from the position of FIG. 2 to that of FIG. 3.

As a consequence, it is the guide surface 15b of bell crank lever 15 that now cooperates with the roller 12 of bent lever 9, which is therefore pivoted about its axis 10 in the clockwise direction, thus pulling down the nose 5a of sear 5 from the notch 4a of breechblock 4 and releasing said breechblock, which starts toward the front under the action of spring 8.

Breech casing 3 also starts toward the front.

Upon the firing of the first shot, breech casing 3 and breechblock 4 recoil.

In the same manner as above stated, arming lever 21 is pivoted in the clockwise direction by the oblique surface 25 of breech casing 3, thus compressing accumulator spring 18 and causing slide 17 to move back toward the left.

Fire control locking member 26 is thus pushed by its spring 28 downwardly into engagement with the oblique surface 17a of slide 17 when the latter reaches the end of its leftward movement and it is locked in this position by disengagement locking member 29 pushed by its spring 31 and which, at this time, is no longer subjected to the action of pawl 32.

Accumulator spring 18 will now remain in this compressed state, slide 17 being locked by elements 26 and 29, as long as trigger 35 is depressed and after it is released.

As long as trigger 35 is kept depressed by the gunner, as shown by FIG. 4, a burst of shots is being fired, because the projection 39a of hook 39 engages the holding lug 19a of lever 19, which is thus kept in the position of FIG. 4, itself keeping parts 15, 9 and 5 in the positions illustrated by said FIG. 4.

As soon as the gunner ceases to depress trigger 35, lever 42, bell crank lever 15, lever 9 and sear 5 come back into their respective positions illustrated by FIG. 2, and accumulator spring 18 remains tensioned. The gun is ready for a new burst of shots which will take place as soon as trigger 35 is again depressed.

In order to obtain shot by shot firing, the gun comprises a sliding rod 44 having a bevelled end 44a adapted to cooperate with the end of hook 39 so as to keep said hook in the position illustrated by FIG. 5, where spring 41 is compressed.

Therefore if rod 44 has been pushed toward the left into the position illustrated by FIG. 5, projection 39a is retracted, and ceases to cooperate through holding lug 19a with lever 19, so that when, after the shot has been fired, breech casing 3 has moved back toward the right and has tensioned spring 18, bell crank lever 15 pivots and permits sear 5 to return into its active position where it stops breechblock 4 in the rear position thereof (as shown by FIG. 5).

Thus, when rod 44 is in the shot by shot firing position of FIG. 5, the fact of depressing trigger 35 (accumulator spring 18 being supposed to be compressed) causes the energy accumulator to swing bell crank lever 15 toward the left but, whether trigger 35 is depressed or not, once spring 18 has been again compressed by the firing of the shot, bell crank lever 15, urged by spring 13, returns into the position of FIG. 5, where sear 5 is again in the fire stopping position.

In what precedes it has been supposed that, initially, the gun mechanism is ready to operate for firing the first shot, which implies that spring 18 is compressed.

Now, when the gun has been stored for some time or in case of misfire of the first shot, it may happen that breech 4 is in the gun cartridge chamber closing position and accumulator spring 18 is not tensioned.

In such a case, use is made of an arrangement an embodiment of which is illustrated by FIG. 6.

This arrangement comprises a cable 45 one end of which carries a hand grip 46 and the other end of which is secured to a rearming finger 47 adapted to act upon breechblock 4 to move it rearwardly. A return spring (not shown on the drawing) is provided for returning this system into the state of rest as soon as the gunner ceases to pull on hand grip 46.

Along the path of travel of rearming finger 47, there is provided a pawl 48, retractable toward the front, pivoted about an axis 49 to the end of an arm 50 mounted loose upon the pivot 23 of arming lever 21.

A bearing surface 50a carried by lever 50 is adapted to cooperate with a driving lug 51 fixed angularly on pivot 23 in such manner that when pawl 48 is acted upon by rearming finger 47, arm 50 causes, by rotating about pivot 23, driving lug 51 to pivot and therefore rearming lever 21 also to pivot, in the direction which compresses spring 18.

In a general manner, while the above description discloses what is deemed to be a practical and efficient em bodiment of the present invention, said invention is not limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A gun comprising, in combination,

a fixed support,

a gun part reciprocable in said fixed support in a longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said gun part frontwardly with respect to said fixed support,

a breechblock reciprocable with respect to said gun part,

in said longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said breechblock frontwardly with respect to said gun part,

retractable sear means for holding said breechblock in rear position with respect to said gun part,

means for retracting said sear means, including a part slidable on said fixed support,

a resilient energy accumulator for operating said retracting means,

said retracting means including two reversible cooperating abutment force transmitting means arranged to be urged from cooperating abutment relation with each other by the force they serve to transmit,

retractable locking means for keeping said abutment means in cooperating engagement with each other,

fire initiating trigger means,

and means operative by said trigger means for moving said locking means into retracted position.

2. A gun comprising, in combination,

a fixed support,

a breech casing reciprocable in said fixed support in a longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said breech casing frontwardly with respect to said fixed support,

a breechblock reciprocable with respect to said breech casing in said longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said breechblock frontwardly with respect to said breech casing,

retractable sear means for holding, when in non retracted position, said breechblock in rear position with respect to said breech casing,

means for retracting said sear means including a slide slidable on said fixed support in said longitudinal direction,

an accumulator spring interposed between said slide and said fixed support for pushing said slide toward the rear to urge said sear means toward the non retracted position thereof,

a lever pivoted to said fixed support about a first axis perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, operative by said breech casing during the rearward displacements thereof and operatively connected to said slide for compressing said accumulator spring during rearward displacements of said breech casing,

a fire control locking member pivoted to said casing about a second axis parallel to said first axis and extending frontwardly from said second axis, the front end of said fire control locking member having an abutment surface adapted to engage an abutment surface of said slide for holding said accumulator spring in compressed position, said two last mentioned abutment surfaces being oblique to the longitudinal displacement of said slide so that the thrust of said recuperator spring tends to pivot said fire control locking member upwardly into a position where it no longer engages said slide,

spring means between said fixed support and said fire control locking member for urging said last mentioned locking member toward the position where it engages said slide,

retractable locking means, pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to said first axis, having an active position for keeping said abutment surfaces in cooperative engagement with each other,

fire initiating trigger means pivoted to said fixed support, and

means operative by said trigger means for moving said retractable locking means into retracted position.

3. A gun comprising, in combination,

a fixed support,

a breech casing slidable in a longitudinal direction in said fixed support with a reciprocating movement, resilient means urging said breech casing frontwardly with respect to said fixed support,

a breechblock slidable in said longitudinal direction with respect to said breech casing,

resilient means urging said breechblock frontwardly with respect to said breech casing,

retractable sear means for holding in the non retracted position thereof, said breechblock in rear position with respect to said breech casing,

means for retracting said sear means including a slide slidable on said fixed support in said longitudinal direction,

an accumulator spring interposed between said slide and said fixed support for pushing said slide toward the rear to urge said sear means toward the non retracted position thereof,

a lever pivoted to said fixed support about a first axis perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, operative by said breech casing during the rearward displacements thereof and operatively connected to said slide for compressing said accumulator spring during rearward displacements of said breech casing,

a fire control locking member pivoted to said casing about a second axis parallel to said first axis and extending frontwardly from said second axis, the front end of said fire control locking member having an abutment surface adapted to engage an abutment surface of said slide for holding said accumulator spring in compressed position, said two last mentioned abutment surfaces being oblique to the longitudinal displacement of said slide so that the thrust of said recuperator spring tends to pivot said fire control locking member upwardly into a position where it no longer engages said slide,

spring means between said fixed support and said fire control locking member for urging said last mentioned locking member toward the position where it engages said slide,

a disengagement locking member, pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to said first axis adapted to engage the end of said fire control locking member, said disengagement locking member extending transversely to said fire control locking member and having an active position in which it holds said fire control locking member engaged with said slide,

resilient means between said fixed support and said disengagement looking member for urging the latter toward the position where it holds said fire control locking member in engagement with said slide,

a bell crank lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to said first axis,

a disengagement pawl pivoted to one end of said bell crank lever and adapted, when said last mentioned bell crank lever is pivoted in one direction, to act upon said disengagement locking member to push it away from its active position during a portion of the pivoting of said bell crank lever in said last mentioned direction, and

link means interposed between said trigger and the other end of said bell crank lever for producing, in response to the pulling of said trigger, said pivoting of said bell crank lever in said last mentioned direction.

4. A gun comprising, in combination,

a fixed support,

a breech casing reciprocable in said support in a longitudinal direction,

- resilient means urging said breech casing frontwardly with respect to said fixed support,

a breechblock reciprocable in said breech casing in said longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said breechblock frontwardly with respect to said breech casing,

a scar carried by said breech casing adapted to engage said breeckblock for holding it in rear position with respect to said breech casing, said sear being movable with respect'to said breech casing between an active position where it engages said breechblock and an inoperative position where it is clear of said breechblock,

resilient means between said breech casing and said sear for urging said sear toward the active position thereof,

a transmission lever pivoted to said b-reech casing about a first axis perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, said transmission leverrhaving a first arm and a second arm, said first arm being operatively connected with said sear for moving said sear into inoperative position against the action of said resilient means when said lever is rotated in a given direction,

a bell crank lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to said first axis, said bell crank lever having two arms, a first one and a second one,

said fixed support being provided with a slot in which said bell crank lever first arm is engaged and can pivot between two positions, a first one and a second one,

said bell crank lever second arm having two consecutive straight edges, a first one and a second one, adapted to cooperate as guiding means with a point of said transmission lever second arm, the angle made by said straight edges being the supplement of the angle through which said bell crank lever pivots for passing from one of said two positions to the other one, whereby said first edge is parallel to said longitudinal direction when said bell crank lever first arm is in said first position in said slot and said second edge is parallel to said longitudinal direction when said bell crank lever first arm is in said second position in said slot,

said fixed support having a fiat face parallel to said longitudinal direction and to said pivot axes,

a balance lever having its middle portion pivoted to said bell crank lever first arm about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, one end of said balance lever being adapted to lie on said fixed support fiat face,

a trigger pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes,

a locking lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, so to be able to occupy either of two positions, to wit an operative position and a position of rest, one end of said locking lever being adapted to engage said balance lever to apply said end of said balance lever against said flat face of said fixed support when said locking lever is pivoted into its operative position,

link means between the other end of said locking lever and said trigger for bringing said locking lever into said operative position thereof in response to said trigger being depressed and into its position of rest in response to said trigger being released,

a hook pivoted to said frame about an axis parallel to said above mentioned axes and,

said hook being adapted to engage said balance lever and to keep it in the position where it holds said bell crank lever in said first position thereof in response to said locking lever being in its operative position, said hook being adapted to release said balance lever in response to said locking lever being in its position of rest,

spring means for urging said hook toward the position where it engages said balance lever,

a slide slidable on said fixed support flat face in said longitudinal direction,

a recuperator resilient element interposed between said fixed support and one end of said slide to urge the other end of said slide against the end of said balance lever when said balance lever end is lying on said fixed support flat face,

said breech casing being provided with an inclined face,

an arming lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes and pivotally connected at one end to said slide about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, the other end of said arming lever being slidable along said breech casing inclined face, for compressing said recuperator resilient element during the rearward displacement of said breech casing,

a fire control locking member pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, said fire control locking member having an edge adapted to cooperate with an oblique surface of said slide to hold said slide in the position where said recuperator resilient element is compressed said edge and oblique surface being oblique so that said slide tends to drive said fire control locking member away from its path under the action of said recuperator resilient member,

a disengagement locking member pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, adapted to engage the end of said fire control locking member, said disengagement locking member extending transversly to said fire control locking member and having an active position in which it holds said fire control locking member engaged with said slide,

resilient means between said fixed support and said disengagement locking member for urging the latter toward the position where it holds said fire control locking member in engagement with said side,

a second bell crank lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes,

a disengagement pawl pivoted to one end of said second bell crank lever and adapted, when said last mentioned bell crank lever is pivoted in one direction, to act upon said disengagement locking member to push it away from its active position during a portion of the pivoting of said second bell crank lever in said last mentioned direction, and

link means interposed between said trigger and the other end of said second bell crank lever for producing, the response to the pulling of said trigger, said pivoting of said second bell crank lever in said last mentioned direction.

5. A gun comprising, in combination,

a fixed support,

a breech casing reciprocable in said support in a longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said breech casing frontwardly with respect to said fixed support,

a breechblock reciprocable in said breech casing in said longitudinal direction,

resilient means urging said breechblock frontwardly with respect to said breech casin g,

a sear carried by said breech casing adapted to engage said breechblock for holding it in rear position with respect to said breech casing, said sear being movable with respect to said breech casing between an active position where it engages said breechblock and an inoperative position where it is clear of said breechblock,

resilient means between said breech casing and said sear for urging said sear toward the active position thereof,

a transmission lever pivoted to said breech casing, about a first axis perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, said transmision lever having a first arm and a second arm, said first arm being operatively con nected with said sear for moving said sear into inoperative position against the action of said resilient means when said lever is rotated in a given direction,

a bell crank lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to said first axis, said bell crank lever having two arms, a first one and a second one,

said fixed support being provided with a slot in which said bell crank lever first arm is engaged and can pivot between two positions, a first one and a second one,

said bell crank lever second arm having two consecutive straight edges, a first one and a second one, adapted to cooperate as guiding means with a point of said transmission lever second arm, the angle made by said straight edges being the supplement of the angle through which said bell crank lever pivots for passing from one of said two positions to the other one, whereby said first edge is parallel to said longitudinal direction when said bell crank lever first arm is in said first position in said slot and said second edge is parallel to said longitudinal direction when said bell crank lever first arm is in said second position in said slot,

said fixed support having a flat face parallel to said longitudinal direction and to said pivot axes,

a balance lever having its middle portion pivoted to said bell crank lever first arm about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, one end of said balance lever being adapted to lie on said fixed support fiat face,

a trigger pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes,

a locking lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes,

a locking lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, so as to be able to occupy either of two positions, to wit, an operative position and a position of rest, one end of said locking lever being adapted to engage said balance lever to apply said end of said balance lever against said flat face of said fixed support when said locking lever is pivoted into its operative position,

link means between the other end of said locking lever and said trigger for bringing said locking lever into said operative position thereof in response to said trigger being depressed and into its position of rest in response to said trigger being released,

a hook pivoted to said frame about an axis parallel to said above mentioned pivot axes,

said hook being adapted to engage said balance lever and to keep it in the position where it holds said bell crank lever in said first position thereof in response to said locking lever being in its operative position, said hook being adapted to release said balance lever in response to said locking lever being in its position of rest,

spring means for urging said hook toward the position where it engages said balance lever,

hand retractable means for keeping said hook in inoperative position Where it is kept out of contact with said balance lever,

a slide slidable on said fixed support fiat face in said longitudinal direction,

a recuperator resilient element interposed between said fixed support and one end of said slide to urge the said breech casing being provided with an inclined face, an arming lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes and pivotally connected at one end to said slide about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, the other end of said arming lever being slidable along said breech casing inclined face, for compressing said recuperator resilient element during the rearward displacement of said breech casing,

a fire control locking member pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes, said fire control locking member having an edge adapted to cooperate with an oblique surface of said slide to hold said slide in the position where said recuperator resilient element is compressed, said edge and oblique surface being oblique so that said slide tends to drive said fire control locking member away from its path under the action of said recuperator resilient member,

a disengagement locking member pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes adapted to engage the end of said fire control locking member, said disengagement locking member extending transversely to said fire control 12 locking member and having an active position in which it holds said fire control locking member engaged with said slide,

resilient means between said fixed support and said disengagement locking member for urging the latter toward the position where it holds said fire control locking member in engagement With said slide,

a second bell crank lever pivoted to said fixed support about an axis parallel to the above mentioned pivot axes,

a disengagement pawl pivoted to one end of said second bell crank lever and adapted, When said last mentioned bell crank lever is pivoted in one direction, to act upon said disengagement locking member to push it away from its active position during a portion of the pivoting of said second bell crank lever in said last mentioned direction, and

link means interposed between said trigger and the other end of said second bell crank lever for producing, in response to the pulling of said trigger said pivoting of said second bell crank lever in said last mentioned direction.

No references cited.

25 BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner.

S. C. BENTLEY, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GUN COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A FIXED SUPPORT, A GUN PART RECIPROCABLE IN SAID FIXED SUPPORT IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION, RESILIENT MEANS URGING SAID GUN PART FRONTWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID FIXED SUPPORT, A BREECHBLOCK RECIPROCABLE WITH RESPECT TO SAID GUN PART, IN SAID LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION, RESILIENT MEANS URGING SAID BREECHBLOCK FRONTWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID GUN PART, RETRACTABLE SEAR MEANS FOR HOLDING SAID BREECHBLOCK IN REAR POSITION WITH RESPECT TO SAID GUN PART, MEANS FOR RETRACTING SAID SEAR MEANS, INCLUDING A PART SLIDABLE ON SAID FIXED SUPPORT, A RESILIENT ENERGY ACCUMULATOR FOR OPERATING SAID RETRACTING MEANS, SAID RETRACTING MEANS INCLUDING TWO REVERSIBLE COOPERATING ABUTMENT FORCE TRANSMITTING MEANS ARRANGED TO BE URGED FROM COOPERATING ABUTMENT RELATION WITH EACH OTHER BY THE FORCE THEY SERVE TO TRANSMIT, RETRACTABLE LOCKING MEANS FOR KEEPING SAID ABUTMENT MEANS IN COOPERATING ENGAGEMENT WITH EACH OTHER, FIRE INITIATING TRIGGER MEANS, AND MEANS OPERATIVE BY SAID TRIGGER MEANS FOR MOVING SAID LOCKING MEANS INTO RETRACTED POSITION. 